"The black prancing horse in the famous Ferrari logo was originally the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a flying ace in the Italian air force during World War I.

In 1923, Enzo Ferrari met Baracca's mother, Countess Paolina, who asked that he use the horse on his cars for good luck. It must've worked for Ferrari though Baracca didn't fare so well: his plane was shot down and he was killed in action at the age of 30."

The very first car* produced and built under the Ferrari name is the Ferrari 125 S (125 after the engine displacement and S for Sport). I think it's one of the most beautiful cars - if not the most beautiful - Ferrari has ever made (though the 166 MM Barchetta ain't bad).

*Enzo Ferrari did make cars for Alfa Romeo before he started making Ferraris. One of the weirdest cars he ever made was the Alfa Romeo Bimotore, a car with two engines. One in front and another in the back of the driver.

How did Enzo Ferrari got his nickname "Il Commendatore"? Was it because he's famously prickly and tyrannical? (Ferrari's longtime chief engineer Mauro Forghieri once remarked "As a businessman, he is excellent. As a human being, he is a zero" about him)

Actually, he was given the title Commendatore (literally Knight Commander) in 1927 for his racing accomplishments by the King of Italy Vittorio Emmanuel III. When Italy became a Republic in 1946, all honorary titles were canceled. So, technically, Il Commendatore became just a nickname for Enzo.

The 125S shown above is a factory-commissioned replica. The only surviving example is in the Reghini collection.

The Bimotore was not built for Alfa Romeo, Enzo built it for his own racing stable, Scuderia Ferrari and he built it with his own engineers - it is really can be called the first Ferrari, although Enzo never called it that. It was not a success because there was no technical way of linking the engines, and so there were two transmissions and if you think about it that must be very difficult to drive, shifting down before a corner. It produced 540PS/530bhp on those narrow tyres and was clocked at an average speed of 321 km/h over a kilometre on the 15th of June 1935, by Tazio Nuvolari on the Firenze-Mare autostrada. Maximum speed that day was 364 km/h. Just incredible.

OK Pete, sorry, my mistake. I do know it was difficult to drive and that one of the reasons was that it was hard to get the front and back wheels to synchronise.
Onno

It was heavy and ate it's tyres and fuel at a very fast rate meaning it had to pit often. As both motors went through the same gearbox I do not believe there was a front and back wheel synchronisation issue, but if not in synch there would be power losses as the motor that was lagging behind would effectively be braking the other.

In the end a stupid design that was a failure and should be remembered as such.
Pete

The 125S shown above is a factory-commissioned replica. The only surviving example is in the Reghini collection.

The Bimotore was not built for Alfa Romeo, Enzo built it for his own racing stable, Scuderia Ferrari and he built it with his own engineers - it is really can be called the first Ferrari, although Enzo never called it that. It was not a success because there was no technical way of linking the engines, and so there were two transmissions and if you think about it that must be very difficult to drive, shifting down before a corner. It produced 540PS/530bhp on those narrow tyres and was clocked at an average speed of 321 km/h over a kilometre on the 15th of June 1935, by Tazio Nuvolari on the Firenze-Mare autostrada. Maximum speed that day was 364 km/h. Just incredible.